Method and system for controlling access to secure data using custodial key data

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for controlling access to secure data use a custodial TRNG disk. Source data is encrypted using first key data from a first TRNG disk to generate encrypted data which is stored at a first location by a first entity. A second TRNG disk has second key data which is stored at a second location by a second entity. A first TRNG disk copy and a second TRNG disk copy are made identical to the first TRNG disk and the second TRNG disk, respectively, and are stored at one or more locations by a custodial entity. The first key data and the second key data are encoded together, and then transmitted to one or more of the first or second entities. The first quantity of encrypted data is decryptable using the encoded first key data and the second key data.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/384,237, entitled, “Method and System for Securing Data Using Random Bits” filed Jul. 23, 2021, which is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/996,869, entitled, “Method and System for Highly Secured Network Communication Using Quantum Technologies” filed Aug. 18, 2020, which is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/905,420, entitled, “Method and System for Providing Highly Secured Transportable Data” filed Jun. 18, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,984,138 issued Apr. 20, 2021, which claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/865,969, entitled “Method and System for Providing Highly Secured Transportable Data” filed Jun. 24, 2019, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure is generally related to secure transport and storage of data and more particularly is related to methods and systems controlling access to secure data using custodial key data.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Common implementations of data storage security rely on a single security key of 256 bits being applied to the data that then produces an encrypted copy of the data.

Many situations require that data be highly secured while in transit. These include, but are not limited to, high-value intellectual property like digital films, sensitive corporate and government data, health data with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) privacy requirements, and personal information in the European Union where General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance requires data protection. Many situations also require data to be highly secured while physically stored.

Today's cryptographic systems for securing data suffer from a number of problems. A common method for encrypted transport of data is to first use public key cryptography to transmit a symmetric cryptographic key and then to transmit the message data encrypted using symmetric cryptography with the exchanged key. The cryptography guide by Latacora describes Advanced Encryption Standard-Galois/Counter Mode (AES-GCM) as the most popular mode of symmetric encryption today and recommends the use of a 256-bit key. Latacora also recommends Networking and Cryptography library (NaCl) for asymmetric encryption based on the Curve25519 elliptic curve.

Unfortunately, the development of quantum computing, increases in hardware speed, the development of new cryptanalysis algorithms, and hardware security flaws have caused many to be concerned about the future security of the current cryptographic techniques. The new field of “post-quantum cryptography” has proposed new algorithms which are intended to be safe against cryptanalysis by quantum computers but they are unproven and not yet widely accepted. Many are also worried about the possibility of backdoors in standard algorithms which might be exposed in the future. There is no mathematical proof that either symmetric or public key encryption algorithms are actually secure. Public key cryptography, especially, is based on unproven assumptions which many question. The only known mathematically provably secure encryption technique is the “One Time Pad” (OTP), which combines the message with a random key of the same length. But current implementations of OTPs have suffered from technological difficulties making their widespread use impractical. For example, OTP key storage and distribution has traditionally been regarded as prohibitive.

Another issue of increasing importance is the insecurity of modern computer hardware. Two processes which run on the same processor can leak information about cryptographic keys between them through the processor's instruction cache. Information left in caches can also reveal supposedly secret information when speculative execution unwinds. And the “Rowhammer” and “Drammer” attacks access memory in ways that can flip bits in a key and break encryption. More and more hardware and side-channel attacks are being discovered every day. Using today's processors with the standard encryption techniques leaves the user uncertain about the security of their data.

Encryption systems which are based on a small key (e.g., Latacora's recommended 256 bits) enable attacks which discover and transmit those small number of bits to recover all of the encrypted data. The single key, once known, can be easily and quickly sent across the Internet or by other electronic means and used to decrypt massive amounts of secured data. Low data rate transmission methods like inaudible signals over a computer's speaker can even be used to transmit small keys from machines which are not connected to networks. Discovery of even a small number of bytes of key data can expose the contents of hundreds of terabytes of supposedly secured message data. In many settings, this kind of risk of exposure is unacceptable.

When large amounts of data must be sent quickly from one location to another, it is common practice to physically transport the data on storage devices (SD), such as hard disk drives, solid state disk drives, magnetic tape, and other media. Physical transfer is used because network transfers of large amounts of data can take weeks or months. For example, on a 100 Mbps connection, it can take over 120 days to transfer 100 terabytes of data. Today's storage devices have a large capacity and continuing improvements are expected. 14 terabyte hard drives and 100 terabyte SSD drives are now available. Similarly, physical storage devices must be used when data must be stored over time.

The use of physical storage devices introduces the possibility that they may be stolen while being transported or stored. They may also become corrupted or damaged. These risks of exposure or loss of data must be minimized in many important situations.

Moreover, in some situations, it may be difficult or impractical to transmit data on physical storage devices, such as when data needs to be received within a shortened period of time, or when weather, the climate, or a transportation route makes transporting physical storage devices difficult. In these cases, it may be advantageous to have a secure method of transmitting data which minimizes the risk of exposure of the data. While there are various conventional methods for transmitting electronic data securely, many of these methods are less secure than desired. For example, these conventional methods may leave the data prone to being viewed or accessed by unauthorized parties during transmit, and often times they do not provide any indication to the intended recipient of the data that there has been an intrusion.

Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a system and method of controlling access to secure data using a custodial TRNG disk. In this regard, one embodiment of such a method, among others, can be broadly summarized by the following steps: encrypting a first quantity of source data with a first computer processor of a computerized device using first key data from a first true random number generator (TRNG) disk to generate a first quantity of encrypted data, wherein the first key data comprises at least a block of random bits of the first TRNG disk, wherein the first TRNG disk is stored at a first location by a first entity; providing a second TRNG disk with second key data comprising at least a block of random bits of the second TRNG disk, wherein the second TRNG disk is stored at a second location by a second entity, the second location being different from the first location; cloning the first and second TRNG disk with a second processor, thereby creating at least one first TRNG disk copy and at least one second TRNG disk copy, wherein each of the first and second TRNG disk copies are identical to the first TRNG disk and the second TRNG disk, respectively, wherein the first and second TRNG disk copies are stored at one or more locations by a custodial entity, wherein the one or more locations are different from the first and second locations; encoding the first key data of the first TRNG disk copy and the second key data of the second TRNG copy together; and transmitting the encoded first key data and the second key data to one or more of the first or second entities, wherein the first quantity of encrypted data is decryptable using the encoded first key data and the second key data.

In one aspect, the method further comprises: encrypting a second quantity of source data with using the second key data from the second TRNG disk to generate a second quantity of encrypted data, wherein the second quantity of encrypted data is decryptable using the encoded first key data and the second key data.

In another aspect of the method, the custodial entity further comprises at least first and second custodial entities, wherein the first TRNG disk copy is stored at the one or more locations by the first custodial entity and the second TRNG disk copy is stored at the one or more locations by the second custodial entity.

In this aspect of the method, encoding the first key data of the first TRNG disk copy and the second key data of the second TRNG copy together further comprises mutual agreement by the first and second custodial entities.

In another aspect of the method, the custodial entity further comprises three or more custodial entities, wherein the first and second TRNG disk copies are stored at the one or more locations by one of the three or more custodial entities, and wherein encoding the first key data of the first TRNG disk copy and the second key data of the second TRNG copy together further comprises mutual agreement by at least a portion of the three or more custodial entities.

In yet another aspect, the method further comprises communicating data between the first entity and the second entity by: receiving, by the first entity, the encoded first key data and the second key data; encrypting the data, by the first entity, with the encoded first key data and the second key data; and transmitting the encrypted data to the second entity, whereby the encrypted data is decryptable by the second entity using the second key data from the second TRNG disk.

In this aspect, encrypting the data with the encoded first key data and the second key data further comprises using an XOR operation.

In this aspect, the encrypted data is transmitted to the second entity directly.

In this aspect, the encrypted data is transmitted to the second entity through an untrusted network.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a system and method for controlling secure data transmission between two entities using a custodial TRNG disk. In this regard, one embodiment of such a method, among others, can be broadly summarized by the following steps: encrypting a first quantity of source data with a first computer processor of a computerized device using first key data from a first true random number generator (TRNG) disk to generate a first quantity of encrypted data, wherein the first key data comprises at least a block of random bits of the first TRNG disk, wherein the first TRNG disk is stored at a first location by a first entity; providing a second TRNG disk with second key data comprising at least a block of random bits of the second TRNG disk, wherein the second TRNG disk is stored at a second location by a second entity, the second location being different from the first location; cloning the first and second TRNG disk with a second processor, thereby creating at least one first TRNG disk copy and at least one second TRNG disk copy, wherein each of the first and second TRNG disk copies are identical to the first TRNG disk and the second TRNG disk, respectively, wherein the first and second TRNG disks copies are stored at one or more locations by a custodial entity, wherein the one or more locations are different from the first and second locations; encoding the first key data of the first TRNG disk copy and the second key data of the second TRNG copy together; transmitting the encoded first key data and the second key data to the first entity; and communicating data between the first entity and the second entity by: receiving, by the first entity, the encoded first key data and the second key data; encrypting the data, by the first entity, with the encoded first key data and the second key data; and transmitting the encrypted data to the second entity, whereby the encrypted data is decryptable by the second entity using the second key data from the second TRNG disk.

In one aspect, the custodial entity further comprises at least first and second custodial entities, wherein the first TRNG disk copy is stored at the one or more locations by the first custodial entity and the second TRNG disk copy is stored at the one or more locations by the second custodial entity, and wherein encoding the first key data of the first TRNG disk copy and the second key data of the second TRNG copy together further comprises mutual agreement by the first and second custodial entities.

The present disclosure can also be viewed as providing a system of controlling access to secure data using a custodial TRNG disk. Briefly described, in architecture, one embodiment of the system, among others, can be implemented as follows. A first quantity of source data is encrypted, with a first computer processor of a computerized device, using first key data from a first true random number generator (TRNG) disk to generate a first quantity of encrypted data, wherein the first key data comprises at least a block of random bits of the first TRNG disk, wherein the first TRNG disk is stored at a first location by a first entity. A second TRNG disk has second key data comprising at least a block of random bits of the second TRNG disk, wherein the second TRNG disk is stored at a second location by a second entity, the second location being different from the first location. At least one first TRNG disk copy and at least one second TRNG disk copy are created by cloning the first and second TRNG disk with a second processor, wherein each of the first and second TRNG disk copies are identical to the first TRNG disk and the second TRNG disk, respectively, wherein the first and second TRNG disk copies are stored at one or more locations by a custodial entity, wherein the one or more locations are different from the first and second locations. First key data and the second key data is generated by encoding the first key data of the first TRNG disk copy and the second key data of the second TRNG copy together, wherein the encoded first key data and the second key data is transmitted to one or more of the first or second entities, wherein the first quantity of encrypted data is decryptable using the encoded first key data and the second key data.

In one aspect, a second quantity of source data is encrypted using the second key data from the second TRNG disk to generate a second quantity of encrypted data, wherein the second quantity of encrypted data is decryptable using the encoded first key data and the second key data.

In another aspect, the custodial entity further comprises at least first and second custodial entities, wherein the first TRNG disk copy is stored at the one or more locations by the first custodial entity and the second TRNG disk copy is stored at the one or more locations by the second custodial entity.

In this aspect, the first key data of the first TRNG disk copy and the second key data of the second TRNG copy are encoded together by mutual agreement by the first and second custodial entities.

In yet another aspect, the custodial entity further comprises three or more custodial entities, wherein the first and second TRNG disk copies are stored at the one or more locations by one of the three or more custodial entities, and wherein the first key data of the first TRNG disk copy and the second key data of the second TRNG copy are encoded together by mutual agreement by at least a portion of the three or more custodial entities.

In yet another aspect, data is communicated between the first entity and the second entity, wherein the first entity receives the encoded first key data and the second key data and encrypts the data with the encoded first key data and the second key data, and wherein the encrypted data is transmitted to the second entity, wherein the encrypted data is decryptable by the second entity using the second key data from the second TRNG disk.

In this aspect, encrypting the data with the encoded first key data and the second key data further comprises using an XOR operation.

In this aspect, the encrypted data is transmitted to the second entity directly.

In this aspect, the encrypted data is transmitted to the second entity through an untrusted network.

Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the present disclosure, and be protected by the accompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 depicts two removable storage devices inserted into a storage device controller, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A-2B depict the storage device controller of FIG. 1 with the two removable storage devices being removable in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 depicts a flowchart of the encryption process for two or more storage devices, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4 depicts a flowchart of the decryption process for two or more storage devices, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 5 depicts a flowchart of the encryption process for two or more storage devices, the transport of at least two of those devices, and the decryption from any two of the original devices to recover the original data, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 6 depicts a storage device controller designed to fit into a standard disk slot in a computer or RAID array with two removable storage devices inserted into it, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 7 depicts an embodiment with three removable storage devices inserted into a storage device controller, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an illustrative method for encrypting data, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 9A depicts a flowchart of highly secured encryption process for network communication using quantum technologies, in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9B depicts a flowchart 650 of highly secured encryption process for network communication using quantum technologies, in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 depicts a detailed flowchart of highly secured encryption process for network communication using quantum technologies, in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a method for secure network communications of data, in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a method for secure network communications of data using quantum key distribution, in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a method for generating a TRNG disk, in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a diagrammatical illustration of a system for securing data using random bits, in accordance with the third exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of a method for securing data using random bits, in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of a method for securing data using random bits and time-controlling release of the secured data, in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagrammatical illustration of a system of controlling access to secure data using a custodial TRNG disk, in accordance with a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of a method of controlling access to secure data using a custodial TRNG disk, in accordance with the fourth embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 19 is a flowchart of a method of controlling secure data transmission between two entities using a custodial TRNG disk, in accordance with the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Modern applications are generating vast amounts of data. A small fleet of drones can generate 100 terabytes of data per day. The sensors on a single autonomous vehicle can generate 4 terabytes of data per day. Animated movie files can occupy as much as 250 terabytes of storage. Transmitting large amounts of data over networks can take weeks or months (e.g. it can take over 120 days to transfer 100 terabytes of data on a 100 Mbps network connection.)

Today's storage devices have a large capacity and continuing improvements are expected. 14 terabyte hard drives and 100 terabyte SSD drives are now available. Magnetic tape continues to be an important medium for high density storage. In many situations, physical transport of storage media is preferred to transfer over networks. With modern storage media, larger amounts of data can be rapidly transported physically. Data sent over a network like the internet can also be vulnerable to cyber-attacks.

When data is transported or stored physically today, it is often encrypted using a small key onto a single storage device. Today's common encryption methods are vulnerable to hardware flaws, quantum computation, side channel attacks, and other problems. If the few bits of a standard encryption key are obtained by an attacker, they can use them to expose terabytes of important data. Secure transport and storage of large amounts of data known in the prior art requires numerous compromises to security and convenience.

To improve over these deficiencies in the industry, embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein utilize a unique, dynamically generated, and very long encryption key for every write operation to the data storage media. The number of bits in each encryption key is always greater than or equal to the number of bits in the data being written. The encryption keys are written to their own media and the encrypted data is written to another. In its simplest embodiment, only with access to both the encryption key media and the encrypted data media can the original data be read.

The encryption and decryption functions of the present disclosure can be computed extremely efficiently and can be implemented in hardware without need of a dedicated CPU. This allows the systems and methods of the present disclosure to be much faster, use less power, and be more efficient than existing technologies. In a primary example, the present disclosure relates to the highly secured transport and storage of large amounts of data. This capability is becoming increasingly important because new applications are generating more and more data which must be kept secure.

The non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure solve the problems of the prior art in an efficient, reliable, and easy to use manner. They provide a cryptographically unbreakable method of securing data while it is being transported or preserved in storage facilities. This method secures the data in a way that is immune to further advances in cryptanalysis such as quantum cryptanalysis. It is also immune to all known side-channel attacks on popular private and public key cryptographic schemes.

Turning to the figures, FIG. 1 depicts two removable storage devices 102, 104 inserted into a storage device controller 100, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. FIGS. 2A-2B depict the storage device controller of FIG. 1 with the two removable storage devices 102, 104 being removable, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. With reference to FIGS. 1-2 , the storage device controller 100 may comprise an array of one or more SD controllers which includes a physical housing or I/O port capable of receiving or electronically connecting to two or more storage devices (SDs) 102, 104. The SDs 102, 104 may include any type of physical storage medium, such as hard disk drives, solid state disk drives, magnetic tape, and other media. The storage device controller 100 may be connectable, directly or indirectly, to a source supplying data, such as a server, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, or another type of computerized device. As shown in FIGS. 2A-2B, the SDs 102, 104 are removable from the storage device controller 100, in that, the physical units of the SDs 102, 104 may be inserted into and removed from the storage device controller 100.

The encryption and decryption process of the SDs 102, 104 is described relative to FIGS. 3-5 . In particular, FIG. 3 depicts a flowchart of the encryption process for the SDs 102, 104, and FIG. 4 depicts a flowchart of the decryption process for the SDs 102, 104, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 5 depicts a flowchart of both the encryption process and the decryption process, as well as the transportation of the SDs 102, 104 between encryption and decryption, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. With reference to FIGS. 1-5 together, the source of the data 300 which is to be secured or encrypted is connected to the storage device controller 100. The storage device controller 100 is connected to the two or more removable storage devices 102 and 104. The source data 300 is in communication with a controller unit 306 of the storage device controller 100, and the data source 300 sends write and read requests to the controller unit 306. When this occurs, the controller unit 306 encrypts the source data and stores the resulting encrypted data on the removable storage devices 102, 104, in such a way that the original data can be reconstructed from a large enough subset of the storage devices but no information is revealed from any smaller subset.

To secure or encrypt the source data 300, the source data 300, or a portion thereof, is copied onto the controller data buffer or source data block 302 of the controller unit 306. The controller unit 306 has access to a random number generator 307 and a random bit size generator 308, which may be located within the controller unit 306 or external to it, such as within the attached computer or another computing system. The random number generator 307 generates a random key or number equal to or greater in size than the random bit size. Then, the random bit size generator 308 generates a random bit size corresponding with every write request of the data source 300 of a size equal to the random bit size. Each key data block is the same size as the source data 300 and is generated by the high quality random number generator 307. The data from the data source 300 which is copied onto the source data block 302 is then combined with one or more key data blocks derived from the random bit size generator 308 using a XOR operation 310, or a similar technique. The resulting encoded data is stored on the SDs 102 and 104, with the encoded data stored on the first SD 102 and the key data stored on the second SD 104, in a way which guarantees the desired properties.

Once the encoded data is written to the storage devices 102, 104, the user simply removes them from the storage device controller 100 and transports them independently to the destination. Independent transportation of the storage devices 102, 104 may include separate vehicular transportation, being transported along different geographical routes, using different transportation carriers, conducting transportation at different times, or other methods for separate transportation. For clarity in disclosure, FIGS. 3-4 identify the different transportation mediums as an airplane 316 and a truck 318, but any other means of separate or independent transportation is considered within the scope of the present disclosure.

Once the SDs 102, 104 arrive at the destination, as shown in FIG. 4 , the user inserts the SDs 102, 104 into the original storage device controller 100 or another storage device controller 100. The storage device controller 100 then recreates any desired portions of the original data by combining the information from the individual SDs 102, 104. More specifically, as depicted in FIG. 4 , the encoded data of the first SD 102 and the key data of the second SD 104 are received within the controller unit 306 within the storage device controller 100. The controller unit 306 receives a logical block number (LBN) destination associated with the desired data and an integer giving the number of bytes to fetch. The controller unit 306 then fetches that number of bytes of data of the first SD 102 into a controller buffer 326. The controller unit 306 also fetches that same number of bytes of data from the second SD 104 and into a data buffer 328. As the data is fetched, the controller initiates the XOR operation 310 to combine the data within the second SD 104 with the data in the first SD 102 already in the buffer. This results in the reconstruction of the source data which resides in the data buffer 334. This reconstructed source data is then delivered or output from the storage device controller 100 to the data destination 336, such as a data storage device used by the requester of the data.

FIGS. 1-5 illustrate the present disclosure in use with two storage devices. The removable storage device controller 100 may have two slots for storage devices 102, 104 to be inserted into, as shown in FIG. 1 . The SDs 102, 104 may include any type of device for storing data, such as hard disks, SSD disks, magnetic tapes, or others. The storage device controller 100 may be connected to a computer or other device which introduces the data source through write and read requests to the storage device controller 100. The two removable SDs 102, 104 may be inserted into the two slots of the controller 100, where the controller unit 306 responds to write and read requests in real-time by writing and reading data to and from the storage devices.

Once the controller 100 is connected to the computer or other data source and the two SDs 102, 104 are inserted into it, the data source 300 may read and write data for as long as desired. For example, the data source 300 may be a video editor which reads and writes high-value video information to the controller. Once all of the desired message data of the data source 300 has been sent to the controller 100, the SDs 102, 104 may be removed from it.

To securely store the encoded message data of the SDs 102, 104, the SDs 102, 104 may be stored, transported, or otherwise handled independently and/or separately. For example, the SDs 102, 104 may be physically stored in separate locations (for example bank vaults or safety deposit boxes). If one of these locations is compromised, the data on that single storage device provides no information about the secured message data.

With regards to transportation, FIG. 5 schematically illustrates separate or independent transportation mediums, where the encoded data in the first SD 102 is transported along a first transportation medium 340 whereas the key data within the second SD 104 is transported along a second transportation medium 342. The transportation mediums 340, 342 may include any type, format, or means of transportation which allows SD 102 and SD 104 to remain separate from one another. For example, to transport the encoded message data to another location, the two storage devices 102 and 104 may be sent to that location preferably by separate transport methods and/or on separate paths. If one of the devices is stolen or otherwise compromised, it provides no information about the message to the attacker. For example, one SD might be sent by private courier, another SD by a different method, such as a FEDEX® delivery service, etc. Interception of fewer than the specified number of disks provides no information about the source data. Upon arrival at their destination, all of the SDs are inserted into the invented SD system to recover the source data, as described herein.

Another way to achieve high security while transporting the SDs is to use temporal sequencing. For example, one SD 102 could be transported first, and only after its confirmed receipt, are the remaining SDs (e.g. 104) transported. Thus, one SD may be sent during a first time period and the second SD to be transported in a second time period, only after confirmation of receipt of the first SD. In this way, the chances of both SDs 102, 104 being compromised can be effectively eliminated. The different transportation mediums may include, without limitation, separate vehicular transportation, transportation along different geographical routes, transportation using different transportation carriers, conducting transportation at different times, or other methods for separate transportation.

In addition, when the data must be physically archived at storage facilities, one SD 102 can be preserved at one archive facility while the other SD(s) (e.g. 104) are preserved at other archive facilities. In order to reconstruct the source data, the SD(s) must be fetched and inserted into an appropriate SD controller 100. Additional security and auditability can be provided by physically securing SDs in tamper-proof or tamper-evident physical containers. For example, these may involve physical locks.

As described herein, the message data is combined with the random key using the XOR function 310. However, there are many similar alternatives to using the XOR function 310 which may be used, as would be recognized by one skilled in the art. For example, an 8-bit byte of message data 302 might be combined with an 8-bit byte of the random key data 308 by using addition modulo 256. To decrypt the data, an encrypted byte would subtract the stored random key byte modulo 256. Alternatively, an 8-bit byte of message data might be combined with an 8-bit byte of random key data by subtracting it from modulo 256. In that case, decryption would add the encrypted byte to the stored random key byte modulo 256. Many other possibilities may also be used, as may be recognized by one skilled in the art.

In some situations, it may be more convenient to have a stand-alone removable storage device controller with an additional slot for a storage device containing the message data. For example, an embodiment might have three slots: the first for the source message storage device and the other two for the encrypted data storage devices 102 and 104. To perform the encryption, the message storage device would be inserted into the first slot and the two encryption storage devices 102 and 104 would be inserted into the second and third slots. The storage device controller 100 would read data from the source device 300, combine it with random key bits generated from a random source 307, and then write the encrypted data to the second and third devices 102 and 104 as described above. When the encryption is complete, the user removes the second and third devices and transports them to the destination independently. At the destination, the storage devices are inserted into a controller along with a blank third storage device, e.g., such as storage device 336 as shown in FIG. 5 . The controller reads the information from the two encrypted devices 102 and 104 and reconstructs the original message on the blank storage device 336.

As a working example of the present disclosure, the following is one example of the process by which the controller handles a write request for 4096 bytes of message data to the two storage devices:

-   -   The SOURCE data 300 and the logical block number (LBN)         destination of the source data are received by the storage         device (SD) system's controller. In this example, 4096 bytes of         source data are to be written to LBN 30. Although 4096 bytes are         used in this example, embodiments may utilize any number of         bytes without limitation. Likewise, one skilled in the art will         recognize that “LBN 30” is utilized for illustrative purposes         only as data may be written to any logical block without         limitation.     -   The SOURCE data is copied into a controller data buffer.     -   For each write operation, the controller generates a new         4096-byte one-time-pad key (KDATA) of 4096*8 random bits. This         process could be done using a random number generator (RNG). The         RNG could be based on shot noise, quantum fluctuations, or other         method to produce perfectly random bits. Many modern         microprocessor chips include built-in hardware random number         generators. If faster but less secure encryption is desired, a         pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) could be used to produce         the random bits from a smaller set of physically generated truly         random bits. Embodiments may balance the number of physically         random bits and the number of pseudorandom bits according to the         security requirements and the properties of the random source.     -   The 4096 bytes of copied SOURCE data undergoes an XOR operation         (exclusive OR bit operation) with the KDATA to produce 4096         bytes of encrypted data (EDATA).     -   The EDATA is written to LBN 30 on the first storage device         (SD1).     -   The KDATA is written to LBN 30 on the second storage device         (SD2).         Because a new one-time-pad key is generated and used for each         write operation, the encrypted data is cryptographically         unbreakable and is immune to side-channel attacks.

The following is an embodiment of the process of fetching 4096 bytes of message data from the SD controller:

-   -   The SD controller at the destination receives the LBN of the         desired data and an integer giving the number of bytes to fetch.         In this example, 4096 bytes of data are requested from LBN 30.     -   The controller fetches 4096 bytes of data from LBN 30 of SD1         into a controller buffer.     -   The controller fetches 4096 bytes of data from LBN 30 of SD2         into the data buffer, but as the data is fetched, the controller         XORs the SD2 data with the SD1 data already in the buffer.     -   This results in the reconstructed SOURCE data residing in the         data buffer.     -   The reconstructed SOURCE data is delivered from the SD         controller to the requester of the data.

FIG. 6 depicts a storage device controller designed to fit into a standard disk slot in a computer or RAID array with two removable storage devices inserted into it, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. In particular, FIG. 6 depicts an example in which the storage devices are designed to fit into a container that has a standard form factor for storage devices. For example, it might fit into a standard 5.25 inch slot for a hard drive and it might have two slots for smaller SSD drives. This design may allow the controller to be conveniently built into a standard computer, a Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) array of disk drives 402 and 404, or other standard storage system. The SD system 400 can act as a single drive unit when it is part of a standard RAID array storage system. For example, in a RAID 1 array (also known as mirroring), the SD system 400 can participate as either or both of the RAID 1 array disks. In addition, multiple SD systems, each acting as a single drive unit, can be part of any type of RAID array. All other aspects of the controller 100 are the same as described relative to FIGS. 1-5 .

FIGS. 1-5 are described relative to using two encrypted storage devices: the first SD 102 and the second SD 104. In this example, the message data is secure if only one of those disks is stolen or compromised, but the message may be revealed if both disks are stolen or compromised. In some situations, it may be beneficial to use more than two storage devices. To this end, FIG. 7 depicts an embodiment with three removable storage devices inserted into a storage device controller, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 7 , a removable storage device controller 100 has three slots and three storage devices 102, 104, and 106 holding the encrypted information. In this embodiment, all three encrypted storage devices must be present for decryption. This increases the level of security because an attacker must compromise three separate transportation or storage channels to expose the message information.

When three SDs 102, 104, and 106 are used, it may be necessary to use two random key blocks for each block of message bits and provides a greater level of security. Each of the three SDs 102, 104, and 106 must be present to reconstruct the source data (300 in FIG. 3 ). The encoding combines the original source data with the two random key blocks 308 by bitwise XOR. In this example, if the two random key blocks are labelled KEY1 and KEY2, then the contents of the three SDs 102, 104, and 106 after encryption are:

-   -   SD1: (SOURCE XOR KEY1 XOR KEY2)     -   SD2: KEY1     -   SD3: KEY2         Encoding is performed in the controller, as described relative         to FIGS. 1-5 , and these encrypted contents are stored on the         three SDs 102, 104, and 106. The three SDs 102, 104, and 106 are         separated and either stored or transported until the source data         needs to be reconstructed. They are then brought together, and         the reconstruction is performed by the following operation:     -   (SOURCE XOR KEY1 XOR KEY2) XOR KEY1 XOR KEY2         This mathematically reconstructs the source data. No information         about the source data is extractable from any single SD 102,         104, or 106 or from any two of the SDs 102, 104, or 106. Thus,         this use of three SDs may provide an increased level of security         over using only two SDs.

Indeed, the number of SDs may vary and include any number of devices greater than two. Accordingly, the number of SDs may be generalized to an arbitrary number N (greater than or equal to two) of storage devices. Designs of the system and method which include N SDs will require N−1 random key blocks. For example, the first SD 102 holds the source data combined with all N−1 keys, for example by XORing them together, and each of the remaining SDs holds one of the keys as follows:

-   -   SD1: SOURCE XOR KEY1 XOR . . . XOR KEY(N−1)     -   SD2: KEY1     -   . . .     -   SDN: KEY(N−1)         To reconstruct the SOURCE data, all N SDs must be present, and         their contents are bitwise XORed together. Any subset of SDs         smaller than N provides no information about the source data.         This increases the security to any desired level. It forces an         attacker to compromise N different transportation channels or         storage locations in order to access any of the message bits. It         is noted that the system and method described herein may allow         for virtually unlimited permutations of number of SDs used. For         example, requiring that two out of three disks be reunited to         unencrypt the data, or three out of five, or other permutations         as security needs require.

While the system and method of this disclosure provide an arbitrary level of unbreakable security, if one or more of the storage devices is lost or damaged, the message information becomes irretrievable. To prevent this situation, three SDs 102, 104, and 106 may be used in such a way that the message can be retrieved from any two of the SDs but no information is revealed should an attacker attain access to only one of the SDs. This provides robustness against the failure or loss of any one of three SDs 102, 104, and 106. It requires that each SD store twice as much data as in the original source, as the contents of the three SDs 102, 104, and 106 after encryption consist of:

-   -   SD1: KEY1 and (SOURCE XOR KEY2)     -   SD2: KEY2 and (SOURCE XOR KEY3)     -   SD3: KEY3 and (SOURCE XOR KEY1)         Any single SD 102, 104, or 106 reveals no information about the         original source. But the original source data can be         reconstructed from any two of the storage devices. There are 3         possibilities:     -   From SD1 and SD2, perform the XOR of (SOURCE XOR KEY2) from SD1         with KEY2 from SD2 to reconstruct SOURCE.     -   From SD2 and SD3, perform the XOR of (SOURCE XOR KEY3) from SD2         with KEY3 from SD3 to reconstruct SOURCE.     -   From SD3 and SD1, perform the XOR of (SOURCE XOR KEY1) from SD3         with KEY1 from SD1 to reconstruct SOURCE.         In this example, the user is protected against the theft or         compromise of any single storage device and the loss or failure         of any single storage device. It is a convenient, robust, and         highly secure practical means for transporting or storing large         amounts of data.

This example may further be generalized to four SDs, which allow any single SD to fail or be lost and the source data to still be reconstructed. Any fewer than three SDs provide no information about the source data. After encryption, the contents of the four SDs are:

-   -   SD1: KEY1 and (SOURCE XOR KEY2 XOR KEY3)     -   SD2: KEY2 and (SOURCE XOR KEY3 XOR KEY4)     -   SD3: KEY3 and (SOURCE XOR KEY4 XOR KEY1)     -   SD4: KEY4 and (SOURCE XOR KEY1 XOR KEY2)         Any single SD reveals no information about the source. Any two         SDs reveal nothing about the source, because the source is         always XORed with a key which is not available on the two disks.         Any subset of three disks, however, allows reconstruction of the         source data. There are four possibilities:     -   From SD1, SD2 and SD3, perform the XOR of (SOURCE XOR KEY2 XOR         KEY3) from SD1 with KEY2 from SD2 and KEY3 from SD3 to         reconstruct SOURCE.     -   From SD2, SD3 and SD4, perform the XOR of (SOURCE XOR KEY3 XOR         KEY4) from SD2 with KEY3 from SD3 and KEY4 from SD4 to         reconstruct SOURCE.     -   From SD3, SD4, and SD1, perform the XOR of (SOURCE XOR KEY4 XOR         KEY1) from SD3 with KEY4 from SD4 and KEY1 from SD1 to         reconstruct SOURCE.     -   From SD4, SD1, and SD2, perform the XOR of (SOURCE XOR KEY1 XOR         KEY2) from SD4 with KEY1 from SD1 and KEY2 from SD2 to         reconstruct SOURCE.

In applications with a greater need for robustness against device loss or failure, four storage devices may be used, such that any two of the SDs are sufficient for decrypting the original source data. This allows any two SDs to fail or to be lost and the source data to still be reconstructed. Any single SD reveals no information about the source data. But in this example, an attacker must not get access two SDs for the message to remain secure. Here are the contents of the four SDs after encryption:

-   -   SD1: (SOURCE XOR KEY1)     -   SD2: KEY1 and (SOURCE XOR KEY2)     -   SD3: KEY1, KEY2, and (SOURCE XOR KEY3)     -   SD4: KEY1, KEY2, and KEY3         There are 6 possibilities for reconstruction from two SDs:     -   From SD1 and SD2, perform the XOR of (SOURCE XOR KEY1) from SD1         with KEY1 from SD2 to reconstruct SOURCE.     -   From SD1 and SD3, perform the XOR of (SOURCE XOR KEY1) from SD1         with KEY1 from SD3 to reconstruct SOURCE.     -   From SD1 and SD4, perform the XOR of (SOURCE XOR KEY1) from SD1         with KEY1 from SD4 to reconstruct SOURCE.     -   From SD2 and SD3, perform the XOR of (SOURCE XOR KEY2) from SD2         with KEY2 from SD3 to reconstruct SOURCE.     -   From SD2 and SD4, perform the XOR of (SOURCE XOR KEY2) from SD2         with KEY2 from SD4 to reconstruct SOURCE.     -   From SD3 and SD4, perform the XOR of (SOURCE XOR KEY3) from SD3         with KEY3 from SD4 to reconstruct SOURCE.         These non-limiting embodiments show only a few of the         possibilities that one skilled in the art may construct. There         are a wide variety of similar encryption formulas that allow         embodiments to meet a wide variety of user needs.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart 500 illustrating a method of generating secure data for transport using three SDs, in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure. It should be noted that any process descriptions or blocks in flow charts should be understood as representing modules, segments, portions of code, or steps that include one or more instructions for implementing specific logical functions in the process, and alternate implementations are included within the scope of the present disclosure in which functions may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those reasonably skilled in the art of the present disclosure.

As is shown by block 502, source data from the data source is received. At block 504, two or more key blocks may be generated for each source data block. The source data block may then be encrypted (block 506). The encrypted or encoded data is stored on a first SD (block 508), the key data is stored on a second SD (block 510) and the key data is stored on a third SD (block 512). At block 514, confirmation of the last source data is made. If additional data is required for encryption, the process may begin again. If the data for encryption is received in full, the encryption process may end. At this point, the SDs may be transported to a destination location, where the source data is decrypted. Any number of additional steps, functions, processes, or variants thereof may be included in the method, including any disclosed relative to any other figure of this disclosure.

While FIGS. 1-8 discuss systems and methods for securely transmitting data using physical storage devices, it may also be possible to securely transmit data through purely electronic transmission. Transmitting data electronically without the need for a physical storage device may be useful in certain situations where use of a physical storage device is impractical or where environmental conditions make it difficult. For example, the use of physical storage devices may not be suitable for data that needs to be transmitted within short periods of time where the time for transporting the physical storage device is too great, such as for data transmission between individuals residing on different continents. Additionally, in certain situations, the environmental conditions may make it difficult for transporting physical storage devices, for example, data transmission to underground or underwater facilities, to airplanes or spacecraft, or to locations with hazardous climates. In these situations, it may be possible to transmit data securely without the use of physical storage devices.

In accordance with a second embodiment of the present disclosure, FIGS. 9A-12 disclose systems and methods for highly secured network communications without the use of physical data storage devices. It is noted that many of the features, functions, or processes disclosed relative to FIGS. 1-8 may be used with the second embodiment of FIGS. 9A-12 , all of which are incorporated by reference herein. The highly secured network communications disclosed relative to FIGS. 9A-12 may use quantum technologies, and in particular using quantum key distribution (QKD). QKD is a secure communication method which utilizes a cryptographic protocol involving components of quantum mechanics, whereby a random secret key is produced and shared between two parties. The key is known only to the two parties, such that it can then be used to encrypt and decrypt messages. A specific feature of QKD is the ability of the two communicating users to detect the presence of any unauthorized third party trying to gain knowledge of the data transmitted through QKD. This feature stems from the fact that the process of measuring a quantum system, in general, acts to disturb the system. Thus, a third party trying to eavesdrop on the data transferred using QKD must in some way measure it, which causes detectable anomalies within the data. By using quantum superpositions or quantum entanglement and transmitting information in quantum states, a communication system can be implemented that detects eavesdropping, such that one can identify that the transmission was not secure.

FIG. 9A depicts a flowchart 600 of highly secured encryption process for network communication using quantum technologies, in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown, a quantity of source data is provided at block 602. The source data may include any type of data or any size data, e.g., any number of bits, which can be transmitted over an electronic network. An encryption operator receives the source data and encrypts it to produce encrypted data 604. The encryption operator also produces key data 606 corresponding to the encrypted data 604. The key data 606 is then transmitted through at least one network-enabled communication path between a first network location and a second network location, which may be any locations on a computerized network, such as the Internet, a WAN, a LAN, or another network. Transmission of the key data 606 occurs using QKD, as shown at block 608, while the encrypted data 604 is not transmitted. For example, the key data 606 is first sent from the first network location to the second network location using QKD, while the encrypted data 604 remains secure at the first network location. Only after the key data 606 arrives at the second network location, the success of the transmission may be verified at 610. Verifying the success of the transmission uses QKD and determines whether the key data 606 has been accessed, eavesdropped on, listened to, viewed, or otherwise interacted with by an unauthorized third party.

If verification of the successful transmission of the key data 606 is complete, then the encrypted data 604 may be transmitted at block 608 along the network path. It is noted that the encrypted data 604 is not sent until only after the key data set 606 is verified to have successfully completed transmission. When the encrypted data 604 arrives at the destination location of the network, the success of the transmission may be verified at 610. In the same manner as with the key data 606, verifying the success of the transmission of the encrypted data 604 uses QKD and determines whether the encrypted data 604 has been eavesdropped, listened to, viewed, or otherwise interacted with by an unauthorized third party. If verification of the successful transmission of the encrypted data 604 is complete, the encrypted data 604 and key data 606 may be recombined at block 616 to decrypt the encrypted data 604.

Decryption may involve a decryption operator using an XOR operation, or similar technique. For example, the message data may be combined with the random key using a XOR function. However, there are many similar alternatives to using the XOR function which may be used, as would be recognized by one skilled in the art. For example, an 8-bit byte of message data might be combined with an 8-bit byte of the random key data by using addition modulo 256. To decrypt the data, an encrypted byte would subtract the stored random key byte modulo 256. Alternatively, an 8-bit byte of message data might be combined with an 8-bit byte of random key data by subtracting it from modulo 256. In that case, decryption would add the encrypted byte to the stored random key byte modulo 256. Many other possibilities may also be used, as may be recognized by one skilled in the art. Once decryption is complete, the resulting, decrypted data, is then output at the data output 618, as shown in FIG. 9A.

In FIG. 9A, the key data 606 is transmitted first while the encrypted data 604 is withheld from transmission until verification that the key data 606 was successfully transmitted. In this way, the key data 606 and the encrypted data 604 are never in transit at the same time. However, it is noted that either the key data 606 or the encrypted data 604 may be sent first, while the other is withheld pending verification.

FIG. 9B depicts a flowchart 650 of highly secured encryption process for network communication using quantum technologies, in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention, where the encrypted data 604 is transmitted first and the key data 606 is withheld. As shown, a quantity of source data is provided at block 602. An encryption operator receives the source data and encrypts it to produce encrypted data 604. The encryption operator also produces key data 606 corresponding to the encrypted data 604. The encrypted data 604 is then transmitted through at least one network-enabled communication path between a first network location and a second network location, which may be any locations on a computerized network, such as the Internet, a WAN, a LAN, or another network. Transmission of the encrypted data 604 occurs using QKD, as shown at block 608, while the key data 606 is not transmitted. For example, the encrypted data 604 is first sent from the first network location to the second network location using QKD, while the key data 606 remains secure at the first network location. Only after the encrypted data 604 arrives at the second network location, the success of the transmission may be verified at 610. Verifying the success of the transmission uses QKD and determines whether the encrypted data 604 has been eavesdropped, listened to, viewed, or otherwise interacted with by an unauthorized third party.

If verification of the successful transmission of the encrypted data 604 is complete, then the key data 606 may be transmitted at block 608 along the network path. It is noted that the key data 606 is not sent until only after the encrypted data set 604 is verified to have successfully completed transmission. When the key data 606 arrives at the destination location of the network, the success of the transmission may be verified at 610. In the same manner as with the encrypted data 604, verifying the success of the transmission of the key data 606 uses QKD and determines whether the key data 606 has been eavesdropped, listened to, viewed, or otherwise interacted with by an unauthorized third party. If verification of the successful transmission of the key data 606 is complete, the encrypted data 604 and key data 606 may be recombined at block 616 to decrypt the encrypted data 604.

FIG. 10 depicts a detailed flowchart 700 of highly secured encryption process for network communication using quantum technologies, in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention. In particular, FIG. 10 depicts a detailed flowchart of the process generally described in FIGS. 9A-9B. As shown in FIG. 10 , the encryption operator generates the encrypted data 704 and the key data 706. The encryption operator may produce the encrypted data 704 and key data 706 by a variety of methods. One in particular uses a random number generator to generate a random bit size corresponding to every write request of the source data of a size equal to the random bit size. It is then possible to generate a random key equal to or greater in size than the random bit size. The write request may include the use of a logical block number destination. Once the data is encrypted and the key data 706 and encrypted data 704 are produced, the key data may be transmitted using QKD as shown at block 710. The key data is received at block 712 where verification of whether the data has been interacted with is conducted at block 714.

If the transmission of the key data was successful and there is no detection of unauthorized interaction, then a process to transmit the encrypted data is initiated at block 716. Here, the encrypted data 704 is transmitted at block 718 using QKD and the transmitted data is received at block 720. Verification of whether the encrypted data has been interacted with is conducted at block 722. If the transmission of the encrypted data was successful and there is no detection of unauthorized interaction, then the encrypted data and the key data are processed in the decryption module where the key data and the encrypted data are combined with a decryption operator at block 724 to decrypt the source data. The resulting message data may then be output at block 726.

During the process described in FIGS. 9A-10 , it is possible that the key data or the encrypted data may be interacted with during transmission, such that the data sets are eavesdropped on, listened to, viewed, or otherwise interacted with by an unauthorized third party. If interaction takes place, the verification of successful transmission will detect such interaction by detecting the anomalies within the data set caused by the unauthorized interaction's measurement of the data set. Thus, the verification modules (610 in FIGS. 9A-9B; 714, 722 in FIG. 10 ) can identify that the transmission of the data set was not secure. When this occurs, the transmitted data set is discarded and an instruction for retransmission of the data set is sent. For example, at block 612 in FIGS. 9A-9B or block 728 in FIG. 10 , instructions to re-encrypt and retransmit the key data are sent. This instruction begins the process of resending the data set. It is noted that if the key data is determined to have been interacted with during transmission, retransmission of a new key data set is instructed, e.g., by instructing the encryption operator to re-encrypt the source data to produce new key data and new encrypted data. The process then repeats with transmitting this new key data, and the process continues until there is a verified successful transmission without unauthorized interaction.

Upon successful verification of transmission of the key data, the encrypted data may then be transmitted, and the success of that transmission is verified, e.g., at block 610 in FIGS. 9A-9B or in block 722 of FIG. 10 . If there is evidence of an unauthorized interaction with the encrypted data, then the entire process begins again at the encryption operator with re-encrypting the source data with new key data and new encrypted data, as shown at block 614 in FIGS. 9A-9B and block 730 in FIG. 10 . Any number of interactions of transmission, re-encryptions, and retransmission may occur until both the key data and the encrypted data are verified to have been successfully transmitted without unauthorized interaction. The verification module may operate in various methods to detect interaction. For example, it may be possible for any interaction of the data sets to be detected, such that the detection of any anomaly causes the data sets to be destroyed and for the re-encrypting and retransmission process to begin. In another example, it may be possible to detect the if the level of eavesdropping is below a certain threshold, and if not, the communication is aborted. It is noted that the transmission of the data sets may be adjusted to improve performance of the transmission. For example, the transmission of the encrypted data or the key data may be varied based on timing differences of failure rates of earlier transmission, which can aid in achieving a future successful transmission. One or more algorithms may be used to control varying the process of sending the data based on timing differences of transmission.

It is noted that the key data may commonly be the first data to be transmitted while the encrypted data has transmission delayed to a later point in time, e.g., until verification of successful transmission of the key data can be completed. However, it may be permissible in some situations for either data set to be the first in time to be transmitted. For example, as shown in FIG. 9B, the encrypted data may be transmitted first while the key data is delayed. In this example, it ay be possible to produce the data key after verification of successful transmission of the encrypted data, or if the encrypted data is interacted with by an unauthorized party, the key data is not generated and the communication is aborted. The specific priority of which data set is transmitted first or second may vary, depending on the design of the system. In the process of FIG. 10 , the key data is disclosed as being transmitted first and the encrypted data is transmitted only after verification of successful transmission of the key data.

One of the benefits of the system and method disclosed herein is that even if unauthorized interaction with the data sets occurs, it is only possible for that interaction to occur with one of the data sets, not both. For example, if interaction with the key data occurs, that interaction is detectable and causes the encrypted data to not be transmitted. If, however, the key data is successfully transmitted but the encrypted data is found to have been interacted with by unauthorized parties, then both the encrypted data and the key data are destroyed and the source data is re-encrypted for the process to begin again. Moreover, since both data sets are encrypted during transmission, even if an unauthorized third party were to eavesdrop, access, or otherwise interact with one of the data sets, they would be unable to discern any intelligible data from the data set since it is fully encrypted. Indeed, anyone who does look at the data during transmission will learn nothing, since they only will be able to view encrypted key data or encrypted data, but not both, regardless of the number of times the data is viewed.

The method and system disclosed herein may further heighten security of the data transmission by encrypting it through use of a key which uses a number of bytes equal to or greater than the size of the data source. For example, encryption may use a random number generator which generates a random key or number equal to or greater in size than the random bit size. Then, a random bit size generator generates a random bit size corresponding with every write request of the data source of a size equal to the random bit size. With the increasing processing power of modern computers, and with the use of parallel computing architecture, encryption of the data may be completed in hardware within a very small period of time, such as encryption of 1 TB of data in a second. This allows for efficient scaling of encryption, such that the subject system and method can be utilized for larger data sources.

It is noted that the system and method disclosed herein may be utilized with a variety of different data types. For example, the data source may be a simplistic data set having a small size, or the data source may be a complex data set with a large size. The data source may also include blockchain data, such that the blockchain data can be transmitted securely through the system and method disclosed herein. In this way, the subject system and method effectively act as a tunnel to transmit blockchain data or ledgers therethrough.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart 800 of a method for secure network communications of data, in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that any process descriptions or blocks in flow charts should be understood as representing modules, segments, portions of code, or steps that include one or more instructions for implementing specific logical functions in the process, and alternate implementations are included within the scope of the present disclosure in which functions may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those reasonably skilled in the art of the present disclosure.

As is shown by block 802, source data is provided. The source data is encrypted to produce encrypted data and key data corresponding to the encrypted data (block 804). A quantum key distribution (QKD) is used to transmit a first of the encrypted data or the key data from a first network location (block 806). Successful transmission of the first of the encrypted data or the key data is verified (block 808). A QKD is then used to transmit the second of the encrypted data or the key data from the first network location (block 810). Successful transmission of the second of the encrypted data or the key data is verified (block 812). At a second network location, the encrypted data is decrypted with the key data to provide a data output (block 814). Any number of additional steps, functions, processes, or variants thereof may be included in the method, including any disclosed relative to any other figure of this disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart 900 of a method for secure network communications of data using quantum key distribution, in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that any process descriptions or blocks in flow charts should be understood as representing modules, segments, portions of code, or steps that include one or more instructions for implementing specific logical functions in the process, and alternate implementations are included within the scope of the present disclosure in which functions may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those reasonably skilled in the art of the present disclosure.

As shown by block 902, source data located at a first network location is provided. The source data is encrypted to produce encrypted data and key data corresponding to the encrypted data, wherein a random bit size generator is used to generate a random bit size corresponding to every write request of the source data of a size equal to the random bit size, and a random key generator is used to generate a random key equal to or greater in size than the random bit size (block 904). Using QKD, the key data is transmitted from the first network location to a second network location (block 906). Successful transmission of the key data to the second location is verified (block 908). Upon verification of successful transmission of the key data to the second location, the encrypted data is transmitted from the first network location to the second network location using QKD (block 910). Successful transmission of the encrypted data to the second location is verified (block 912). Upon verification of successful transmission of the encrypted data to the second location, the encrypted data is decrypted with the key data to provide a data output (block 914). Any number of additional steps, functions, processes, or variants thereof may be included in the method, including any disclosed relative to any other figure of this disclosure.

In accordance with a third embodiment of the present disclosure, methods and systems of securing data with random bits are provided. In particular, data can be secured with random bits by using a true random number generator (TRNG) to create a so-called ‘TRNG disk’ which is a physical or virtual data storage device which stores random numbers which are used as encryption key data. The TRNG disk can be cloned to create one or more TRNG disk copies, which can be stored at predetermined locations, such that only locations with the TRNG disk copy can decrypt data which has been encrypted or secured with the TRNG disk. The specific operation, features, and benefits of the methods and systems of securing data are described in detail relative to FIGS. 13-16 .

Turning first to FIG. 13 , it depicts a flowchart 1000 of a method for generating a TRNG disk, in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that any process descriptions or blocks in flow charts should be understood as representing modules, segments, portions of code, or steps that include one or more instructions for implementing specific logical functions in the process, and alternate implementations are included within the scope of the present disclosure in which functions may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those reasonably skilled in the art of the present disclosure.

As shown by block 1002, a TRNG is provided. The TRNG is used to fill one disk with random bits, thereby creating TRNG disk (block 1004). The TRNG disk is identified with a universally unique identifier (UUID) (block 1006). Any number of additional steps, functions, processes, or variants thereof may be included in the method, including any disclosed relative to any other figure of this disclosure.

It is noted that the TRNG can generate any quantity of numbers which are random, and all or any portion of those random numbers can be on the TRNG disk. It is possible for the number of bits in the TRNG disk to number in the trillions. The UUID of the TRNG disk may be any type of identifier, such as an alphanumerical identifier, e.g., a serial number, which is asked to that TRNG disk such that the random number set within the TRNG disk can be identified based on the UUID of the TRNG disk. The TRNG disk itself may be implemented as a hardware data storage unit which stores the random numbers in a database within the TRNG disk. It may also be implemented as a virtual disk which uses a subset of an existing database within a hardware device, such as a computer, a smart phone, a camera, or another electronic device.

The process and operation of securing data using the random bits can be understood relative to FIG. 14 , which is a diagrammatical illustration of a system for securing data using random bits, in accordance with the third exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown, a TRNG disk 1110 is provided, where the TRNG disk 1110 has a plurality of random bits thereon along with a UUID which identifies the TRNG disk 1110, as is described in the process depicted in FIG. 13 , for example. At least one TRNG disk copy 1112 is created by cloning the original TRNG disk 1110, or a copy thereof. Each of the TRNG disk copies 1112 are identical to the original TRNG disk 1110, in that, each TRNG disk copy 1112 has the same set of random numbers in the same order as are included in the original TRNG disk 1110. Since the original TRNG disk 1110 is identical to each of the TRNG disk copies 1112, for clarity in disclosure, the term “TRNG disk” may refer to both the original TRNG disk 1110 and the TRNG disk copies 1112.

As shown in FIG. 14 , the system 1100 may operate with at least two TRNG disks 1110 which are positioned in separate locations, and preferably, separate physical locations. These separate locations are identified as the first location 1120 and the second location 1130. While the specific locations or settings may vary depending on the design and use of the system 1100, in one example for using the system 1100 in a military setting, the first location 1120 may be an in-field location such as a remote camp, an infiltrated position, or a similar location remote from a base where it is desirable to collect data, while the second location 1130 may be an operations center or command center where it is desirable to receive and/or analyze the collected data from the remote first location 1120. For instance, military personnel positioned at a forward operating location may collect data at the first location 1120 and desire to transmit that data in a secured manner to the command center at the second location 1130. As shown in FIG. 14 , optionally, there may be more than one second location 1130, such as where there is a plurality of additional second locations 1132, such as, for example, additional operation or command centers. Each additional second location 1132, if present, would have TRNG disk 1110.

It is noted that the TRNG disk 1110 at each of the locations 1120, 1130 may be supplied to those locations prior to receiving any data or transmitting that data. For instance, prior to deployment, a TRNG disk 1110 is uploaded to a device intended to go to the first location 1120, and a TRNG disk 1110 is also provided to the second location 1130, or a plurality of second locations 1132. By supplying the TRNG disks 1110 at an earlier point in time than receiving or transmitting the data, it can be ensured that the TRNG disks 1110 remain in secure locations.

Continuing with the example of military use, the first location 1120 may have a TRNG disk 1112A and the second location 1130 may have a TRNG disk 1112B, where both of the TRNG disks 1112A, 1112B are identical. At the first location 1120, the user may utilize an electronic, computerized, or digital device 1140 to receive an input of source data 1142. The device 1140 may be a computer, a tablet computing device, a smartphone, a camera, an electronic sensor, a recording device, or any other electro-mechanical device capable of receiving data. The source data 1142 may be any type of data in any format.

Once the source data 1142 is received by the device 1140, the encryption process may begin, where the source data 1142 is encrypted for secure transportation or communication from the device 1140. Within the device 1140, or another device in communication with device 1140, an encryption operator 1144 may function by receiving the source data 1142, or a portion thereof, encrypting it with a block of random bits of the TRNG disk 1112A to produce encrypted data. The encryption process may be the same or similar to as described relative to the first and second exemplary embodiments, such as where an XOR operator is used to encrypt the source data. However, instead of generating key data, which is transmitted from the device 1140, the encryption key data is achieved from the random bits within the TRNG disk 1112A. Specifically, the encryption key data is achieved from using a block of random bits of the TRNG disk 1112A, such as a particular number of sequential random bits within the TRNG disk 1112A. The size of the block of bits may vary, but in one example, the block of random bits of the TRNG disk 1112A used to encrypt the source data 1142 may have a bit size which is equal or greater than every write request of the source data 1142.

The specific block of random bits from the TRNG disk 1112A which are used may be identified with a bit offset, which is a positional address of the block of random bits within all of the random bits in the TRNG disk 1112A. For instance, the bit offset may be a numerical address that a certain number of bits within a certain location, such as by line or column, were used for encryption of the source data 1142. In one example, the bit offset may be data that indicates bits 501 through 1000 were used for the encryption, or that the block of bits starts at 1,001 and 500 bits were used.

Once the source data 1142 is encrypted, the encrypted source data 1142 may be output from the device 1140, where it is communicated, transported, or otherwise transmitted from the first location 1120 to the second location 1130 along one or more communication paths 1150. Along with the encrypted data being output, the UUID of the TRNG disk 1112A, and the bit offset of the TRNG disk 1112A are also communicated, such that the encrypted data, the UUID, and the bit offset move in one data package together. Unlike previous exemplary embodiments, there is no need to transmit OTP key bits since decryption at the recipient is achieved through the identical copy of the TRNG disk 1112B at the second location 1130.

The communication path 1150 may include any type of communication or transportation medium, including electronic, optical, or physical transportation. For example, this may include transporting a physical data storage device, such as an SD card, a USB key, a disk, or a computer device with data storage, where the encrypted source data, the UUID of the TRNG disk 1112A, and the bit offset of the TRNG disk 1112A are all stored thereon. It may also include electronically communicating, through at least one computer network, electronic network, cloud network, mesh network, or physical network, the encrypted source data, the UUID of the TRNG disk 1112A, and the bit offset of the TRNG disk 1112A. All means of communication or transportation of this data are acceptable, including those which are unsecured or through unfriendly networks, since the source data remains fully encrypted until it arrives at the second location where the TRNG disk 1112B is located, where it can be decrypted.

Once the encrypted source data, the UUID of the TRNG disk 1112A, and the bit offset of the TRNG disk 1112A arrive at the second location 1130, the source data may be decrypted with the TRNG disk 1112B. In this process, a decryption operator 1134 located at the second location 1130 may be used to decrypt the encrypted source data using the TRNG disk 1112B, where the communicated UUID of the TRNG disk 1112A can be used to identify the TRNG disk 1112B at the second location 1130. The communication bit offset of the TRNG disk 1112A can be used to identify the block of bits used during encryption, such that this same block of bits can be used from the TRNG disk 1112B to decrypt the source data. If the encrypted source data, the UUID, and the bit offset are communicated to additional second locations 1132, the same decryption process may occur at these locations using the TRNG disk 1110 stored at these locations.

It is noted that the process for securing the data and transmitting the data, as described herein, is fully secure. Specifically, once the data is encrypted with the TRNG disk 1112A, unauthorized people or parties are unable to access the underlying data. The only way to access the data and decrypt it, is with another TRNG disk. Therefore, the communication or transportation of the encrypted data can remain secure regardless of the method used. For instance, encrypted source data within a forward operating military base can be communicated to a military operation center with a mesh network, even if that mesh network is susceptible to eavesdropping. In a similar example, the encrypted data from a forward operating military base can be transported through physical devices, such as a data storage device carried by a human being or vehicle. The encrypted data can even be sent through email or a similar data messaging system. Even if unfriendly people access the data during transit, they will not be able to decrypt it because they do not have a copy of the TRNG disk. The system 1100 can also function with any two, or more, relatively secured devices, and no matter where they are, it is possible to securely transmit data between them, even using untrusted means or using conventional communication methods.

It is also noted that TRNG disk 1112, and any copies thereof, are encrypted at rest to ensure that they are not discoverable on the device 1140 or elsewhere. This encryption of the TRNG disk 1112 itself may be achieved using conventional encryption techniques. If the TRNG disk 1112A in the first location gets compromised, it is possible for the second location 1130 operators to know that the disk was compromised based on this encryption of the TRNG disk 1112A, and as such, the second location 1130 can choose not to trust any data received from the compromised TRNG disk 1112A.

Referring again to FIG. 14 , it may be beneficial for the block of random bits used during encryption to be destroyed or deleted after encryption, namely, to prevent that block of random bits for being accessible to someone who inadvertently gains access to the TRNG disk 1112A on the device 1140. By destroying the block of random bits that's used during encryption, even if the device 1140 falls into untrusted hands, the specific block of random bits used for encryption cannot be discovered. This ensures that the only decryption of the encrypted data can occur by an authorized party having a copy of the TRNG disk, such as TRNG disk 2 1112B at the second location 1130.

In another aspect of the system 1100, with a significant quantity of encryption it is possible that the TRNG disk 1112 will be utilized to a large extent, such that it will not have quantity of random bits needed for future encryption. In other words, the TRNG disk 1112 can be used up. When this occurs, the TRNG disk 1112 is considered to be degraded. At this point either the TRNG disk 1112 can be auto-destroyed, or if so configured, can continue to encrypt data, but now using highly secured conventional means.

For example, the TRNG disk 1112 may include a seed vector that can be used in a PRNG (pseudo random number generator), where the secured device sends UUID of the TRNG disk 1112, the bit offset, the number of bits, a seed index number, and the PRNG iteration number within its pseudo-random bit stream. If the seed index number is zero, it may be possible to encrypt and decrypt as normal. If the seed index number is non-zero, then instead of reading TRNG bits, the seed index number points to another number of TRNG bits, such as 512 TRNG bits. In this example, these bits are used to create a conventional SHA-512 pseudo random bit sequence for encoding the plaintext. SHA-512 is currently considered highly secured so the degraded TRNG is still usable in most situations. It is noted that 512 is an arbitrary SHA number, and it could be any size.

In yet another aspect of the invention, it may be possible to effectively recharge TRNG disks 1112 by adding more random bits. For example, when a TRNG disk 1112 is nearing the end of the random bits contained thereof, the user may pay for additional TRNG data to be uploaded to the TRNG disk 1112.

The system 1100 may have particular benefits with uses in specific settings. For example, in the military setting, many devices used by the military are devices that have low computer processing capabilities, such that it is difficult for these military devices to transmit large quantities of data. With many encryption techniques, the key data is transmitted along with the encryption data such that the overall data package being transmitted is often twice as large as the original source data itself. This presents difficulties in military operations since the CPU power of the military devices cannot handle transmission of these large quantities of data. The system 1100 can avoid the situation because it does not require transmission of key data, such that the size of the data being transmitted is often only slightly bigger than the original source data itself. For instance, transmission of a 10 MB video can be achieved with the system 1100 with an overall transmitted data package of 11 MBs, or less, where the UUID of the TRNG disk 1112A and the bit offset only use 1 MB or less (and often, far less). In contrast, a conventional encryption system which transmits key data might require 20 MBs in the data package being transmitted.

As a working example of the system 1100 within the military field, at the Operations Center, before each soldier is deployed, a disk is created with a trillion truly randomly generated bits on a TRNG disk. The TRNG disk is assigned a UUID, for example #100. Then the TRNG disk is cloned or duplicated, so there are two or more TRNG disks with identical truly random bits and the same UUID. These cloned TRNG disks may be referred to as a TRNG disk pair. One TRNG disk goes with the soldier, into the device that is used to send video. The other TRNG disk stays at the secured Operations Center. When the soldier's device needs to encrypt and send plaintext source data, it gets its random bits from TRNG disk that is already on their secured device (i.e., UUID “#100”). To send 10 MB of video data to the Operations Center, the plaintext source data is XOR-encrypted with the first 10 MB of TRNG disk bits from TRNG “#100”. This generates the TRNG encrypted data. Appended to the TRNG encrypted data is the TRNG UUID, bit offset in the TRNG disk that was used to get the random bits, and the number of bits used to encode the plaintext. Together, this may be known as the payload.

Then, the soldier's device sends the payload to the Operations Center. The payload can be sent via any method, whether secured or not, trusted or entrusted. The payload can even be copied to a disk, sent by email, or any other means. Every payload is mathematically unbreakably encrypted. Upon receiving the payload, the Operations Center extracts from the payload its encrypted data, the TRNG UUID, bit offset, and number of bits. Using this data, the encrypted data is decrypted by an XOR process using the corresponding bits on TRNG disk #100 disk located at the Operations Center, such that the Operations Center now has the soldier's original video.

This system and method for securing data and transmitting that data allows unbreakable data transfer between any two or more secured devices using any communication or transportation means available, including a Post Office, a private parcel carrier like FedEx, UPS, or DHL, a disgruntled bike messenger, any type of computer network, whether secured or unsecured, a mesh network, the Internet, any messaging service, optical, NFC, Bluetooth, communication paths, etc. As such, a soldier located anywhere in the world, even in enemy territory, has a secured device and is sending video from it to an Operations Center device anywhere in the world. Moreover, since the method and system described herein does not require transmission of a decryption key, the method and system are highly suited to be used in environments with low CPU processing power devices.

In another example, it is possible to use the system and method disclosed herein for data communication between any two electronic devices in any place. For example, this method may be used to transmit secure data between a computerized device in the controller of that device, such as between a key fob in a computer within an automobile which controls the automobile. In this example, the TRNG disk pair can be used to ensure secure communications between the key fob, or another remote device, an automobile itself. This can further enhance the data security of automobiles. In a similar example, the system can be used to communicate data securely between medical devices, such as those within patients, in medical tools. For instance, it can be used for secure communication between pacemakers and the medical computers used by doctors to monitor or control pacemakers. This system and method could also be used with conventional encryption techniques, such as just during traditional key exchange of data to eliminate man in the middle attacks where the key is discoverable during transit.

In other examples, the system and method can be used with any device that is IOT (Internet-of-things) equipped to ensure secure communication of data between that device and the user. This may include being used with devices such as IOT refrigerators, smart speakers, HVAC systems, or any other household IOT device. In particular, the secure transmission of data might have substantial benefits for building security, electronic safes, access cards, home automation, surveillance systems, or any other similar device.

As a working example for use in the IOT field, the main controlling device may have a TRNG disk, while the IOT device has an empty TRNG disk. A partition of the controlling TRNG disk is cloned to the IOT device using a close proximity data transfer method, such as Bluetooth, or even closed circuit USB transfer. From that point on, the controlling device can communicate with the IOT device using the Internet or other non-secure data transport methods with full security. This can be viewed as a “pairing” method except, in addition to normal pairing data, TRNG bits are also transferred. Bookkeeping on the main controlling device keeps track of which TRNG bits have been allocated for provisioning IOT devices. The communication protocol between the controlling device and the IOT device would include both the TRNG UUID and a partition ID, along with the TRNG bit offset and number of bits. This allows one controlling device to control a plurality of IOT devices in a 100% secured way. As a service, as a device runs out of available TRNG bits, more can be loaded to the device using secure close-proximity methods. Under software control there could be daily, weekly, or monthly quotas on TRNG bits as well.

In other examples, the system and method can be used to prevent data stored on a particular device from being accessed by someone who has physical control over that device yet does not have permission to access the data. For instance, a black box on a military plane captures flight data. As the data is populated into the black box, it may be automatically encrypted using the process described. If the plane has an accident or lands in an unfriendly territory, the flight data from the black box would not be accessible to anyone in that territory since they would not have the TRNG disk for decoding the encrypted data. In a similar example, a news reporter in a hostile country may capture images, video, or other data of a situation in that country. The news reporter utilized a device which automatically encrypts the data as it is captured, such that if the news reporter is detained, the data on the news reporter's device would be inaccessible. In both of these examples, if the block of bits used during encryption is destroyed or deleted after encryption, then there will be no ability to decrypt the data without having a copy of one of the TRNG disks.

The system may also utilize a time control mechanism, where data that is captured on the device is encrypted after a predetermined period of time. For example, data captured by a camera of a reporter in a hostile country could remain unencrypted for a certain period of time, such as one day, and then automatically encrypt after that period of time. This time control ability can ensure that data remains secure over the long term, while giving the user of that data a short term period of time to view or access that data.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart 1200 of a method for securing data using random bits, in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that any process descriptions or blocks in flow charts should be understood as representing modules, segments, portions of code, or steps that include one or more instructions for implementing specific logical functions in the process, and alternate implementations are included within the scope of the present disclosure in which functions may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those reasonably skilled in the art of the present disclosure.

As shown by block 1202, a true random number generator (TRNG) disk is provided, where the TRNG disk having a plurality of random bits, wherein the TRNG disk has a universally unique identifier (UUID). The TRNG disk is cloned, thereby creating at least one TRNG disk copy which is identical to the TRNG disk, wherein the at least one TRNG disk copy is stored in a separate physical location than the TRNG disk (block 1204). Source data is received (block 1206). The source data is encrypted with a block of random bits of the TRNG disk to produce encrypted data, wherein the block of random bits of the TRNG disk has a bit offset, the bit offset being a positional address of the block of random bits within the TRNG disk (block 1208). The encrypted source data, the UUID of the TRNG disk, and the bit offset of the TRNG disk are communicated from a first location to at least a second location (block 1210). The encrypted source data is decrypted at the second location using the UUID of the TRNG disk, the offset of the TRNG disk, and the TRNG disk copy (block 1212). Any number of additional steps, functions, processes, or variants thereof may be included in the method, including any disclosed relative to any other figure of this disclosure.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart 1300 of a method for securing data using random bits and time-controlling release of the secured data, in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that any process descriptions or blocks in flow charts should be understood as representing modules, segments, portions of code, or steps that include one or more instructions for implementing specific logical functions in the process, and alternate implementations are included within the scope of the present disclosure in which functions may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those reasonably skilled in the art of the present disclosure.

As shown by block 1302, source data is provided. The source data is encrypted with a block of random bits of a true random number generator (TRNG) disk to produce encrypted data, wherein the TRNG disk has a plurality of random bits and a universally unique identifier (UUID), and wherein the block of random bits of the TRNG disk has a bit offset, the bit offset being a positional address of the block of random bits within the TRNG disk (block 1304). The encrypted source data, the UUID of the TRNG disk, and the bit offset of the TRNG disk are stored on a data storage device (block 1306). A time-controlled decryption of the encrypted source data is completed, whereby after a period of time, a TRNG disk copy, identical to the TRNG disk, is communicated to the data storage device, whereby the encrypted source data is decrypted using the UUID of the TRNG disk, the offset of the TRNG disk, and the TRNG disk copy (block 1308). Any number of additional steps, functions, processes, or variants thereof may be included in the method, including any disclosed relative to any other figure of this disclosure.

In furtherance of the method described relative to FIG. 16 , it is noted that the time-controlled decryption of the encrypted data can be used to ensure that access to the data is only achieved at the desired time. For example, within a government setting, it may be possible for reporters to take recordings of a particular government official, where those recordings are automatically encrypted upon capture. The government official may control when those recordings are accessible through use of a TRNG disk. For instance, if the government official does not want the recordings to be released for a week, he or she may withhold the TRNG disk for a week, such that the recordings remain encrypted for that week. A similar example, digital media such as motion pictures are often susceptible to eavesdropping and copying prior to being officially released at a theater. The system may be used to prevent this, where the motion picture is encrypted prior to being transmitted or transported to a theater, and the TRNG disk is withheld until the motion picture is set to be released. When the motion picture is ready to be released, the movie studio provides the TRNG disk (or the block of bits from the TRNG disk used during encryption) to the theater, thereby allowing them to decrypt the data and access the motion picture. In this example, it is possible to provide the motion picture to a theater days, weeks, or months in advance without fear of the motion picture being accessed.

FIG. 17 is a diagrammatical illustration of a system of controlling access to secure data using a custodial TRNG disk 1400, in accordance with a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, the use of one or more custodial TRNG disks can offer the ability for controlled access to encrypted data, direct communication of data between different entities or different locations, and other improvements in the ability to secure data. Custodial TRNG disks may be useful in situations where users of TRNG disks would like to back up their key data and encrypted data in case of hardware fails, corruption, viruses, ransom attacks, or other situations where a backup is desired. The custodial TRNG disks can allow key data to be held in the custody of a custodial entity, which may be one or more entities which are entrusted to hold the custodial TRNG disks and provide them to a user when needed.

As shown in FIG. 17 , the system for securing data using random bits and distributed key data 1400, which may be referred to simply as ‘the system 1400’, includes at least a first TRNG disk 1410A which is associated with a first entity at a first location and a second TRNG disk 1410B which is associated with a second entity at a first location. Any additional number of TRNG disks 1410N can also be included, where these additional TRNG disks 1410N are associated with N number of entities or locations. For example, there may be any additional number of entities each using one or more TRNG disks. The TRNG disks 1410A, 1410B, etc. are implemented in a computing environment, such as a computerized device having a processor 1412, where, as explained relative to other figures of this disclosure, key data from the TRNG disks can be used to encrypt source data. For example, the key data may include at least a block of random bits of a TRNG disk, and may also include a UUID which identifies the TRNG disk, for instance, as is described in the process depicted in FIG. 13 . The block of random bits of the TRNG disk may have a bit size which is equal to or greater than every write request of the source data.

In use, a first entity 1414A having the first TRNG disk 1410A may receive or have source data which is encrypted using the first TRNG disk 1410A. For example, the source data may be encrypted with a computer processor of a computerized device using first key data from the first TRNG disk 1410A to generate a first quantity of encrypted data, which can be stored by the first entity 1414A at its location or elsewhere. One or more other entities, herein referred to as second entity 1414B, also has a TRNG disk 1410B which has key data comprising at least a block of random bits of the second TRNG disk 1410B. The second TRNG disk 1410B is stored at a second location by a second entity 1414B, where the second location is different from the first location of the first entity. It is noted that the locations may be different physical locations, such as two different geographical addresses, or they may be different network locations, such as different network paths, or they may be different in terms of both the physical location and network location.

Each of the TRNG disks 1410A, 1410B, etc., or some portion thereof, may be cloned to generate a TRNG disk copy. For example, the first TRNG disk 1410A may be copied or cloned to generate TRNG disk 1 copy 1416A, and the second TRNG disk 1410B may be copied or cloned to generate TRNG disk 2 copy 1416B, where each of the copied TRNG disks 1416A, 1416B are identical to their corresponding original TRNG disks 1410A, 1410B. Since the copies of the disks are identical to their corresponding original disk, each of the copied disks contain the same random numbers in the same order as their corresponding original disk. These copied disks 1416A, 1416B are stored at one or more locations by a custodial entity 1418, such as the location of the custodial entity 1418, their storage facility, or a related location. The location or locations of the custodial entity 1418 are different from the locations of the first and second entities.

In certain situations, it may be desired for the first entity 1414A to communicate with the second entity 1414B, whereby the first entity 1414A needs to send data, messages, or secured information to the second entity 1414B. When this occurs, it is impractical and inefficient for the TRNG disks themselves to be transferred between the entities, because the cost of providing or transporting TRNG disks can be substantially high. Thus, instead of transferring or transporting TRNG disks, one or both of the entities can request the custodial entity to assist, where the custodial entity can facilitate direct communication between the first and second entities 1414A, 1414B despite them having different TRNG disks.

For instance, in one example, if the first entity 1414A desires to communicate secured data to the second entity 1414B, the first entity 1414A and/or the second entity 1414B may request the custodial entity 1418 use the TRNG disk copy 1416A for the first entity 1414A and the TRNG disk copy 1416B or the second entity 1414B to encode the key data of the TRNG disk 1 copy 1416A and the key data of the TRNG disk 2 copy 1416B together. In other words, the custodial entity 1418 may XOR the TRNG disk 1 copy 1416A with the TRNG disk 2 copy 1416B, either in whole or part, such as only relevant to the key data, thereby producing an encoded key data set which includes the relevant key data for both the first and second entities 1414A, 1414B.

This encoded first key data and the second key data can then be transmitted to the first entity 1414A, where the first entity 1414A can compute the XOR of that data with their original TRNG disk 1410A to get the relevant key data for the second entity 1414B. Then, the first entity 1414A can use that XOR-processed data of the second entity 1414B to send data to the second entity 1414B in a secured manner, despite the transmission path 1420 being over untrusted networks. When the second entity 1414B receives this transmission, they may use their original TRNG disk 1410B to decrypt the encrypted data from the first entity 1414A. Thus, this technique can be used for communication between the first and second entities 1414A, 1414B where each has a TRNG disk which remains in their possession, e.g., where the TRNG disk does not need to be transmitted. Moreover, this technique allows for direct communication between the first and second entities 1414A, 1414B.

As an example of this technique, assume that there is one custodial entity 1418 and there are two entities with TRNG disks: entity A and entity B. For entity A to send entity B a secure message (M) or secured data over an unsecured transmission path 1420, the custodial entity 1418, who has copies of the TRNG disks of entity A and entity B, may XOR the copied TRNG disks of entity A and entity B (XOR(A,B)) and send that data to entity A. Entity A then computes the XOR of that data with their own TRNG disk to obtain the key data of entity B, such that it can be used to encrypt data for entity B. For instance, entity A uses that data to XOR the message with entity B's key data (XOR(M,B)) and transmit it to entity B. Entity B can then use their TRNG disk to decode the transmission from entity A, thereby decrypting the encrypted data. Additionally, it is noted that Entity B can back this transmission up by sending it to the custodial entity 1418 who may store it. Then, on demand, the custodial entity can provide this information to produce both the key data for entity B and the original transmission with the encrypted data.

This same technique can be used to also transmit secured information between the first and second entities 1414A, 1414B in either direction. For example, with the encoded key data of the first and second TRNG disk copies 1416A, 1416B, the second entity 1414B can perform the same actions as described previously with the first entity 1414A, where the second entity 1414B can compute the XOR of the data with their original TRNG disk 1410B to get the relevant key data for the first entity 1414A, which is derived from the encoded key data received from the custodial entity 1418. Then, the second entity 1414B can use that XOR-processed data of the first entity 1414A to send data to the first entity 1414A in a secured manner.

While the use of one custodial entity 1418 is possible, certain entities may prefer to not entrust their TRNG data in the TRNG copy to a single entity. Rather, it may be beneficial to entrust the TRNG copy to more than one custodial entity 1418, whereby there requires some mutual agreement between the custodial entities 1418 before the TRNG copy data is released or used. For instance, in this situation, two custodial entities 1418 may be used, where each has a copy of the TRNG disk, or a portion of the key data from the TRNG disk. When the first entity 1414A desires to send a communication, the custodial entities 1418 must all agree to perform the technique in order for it to be successful, which provides the first entity 1414A with heightened security.

As an example of this situation, assume there are two custodial entities 1418 which provide TRNG backup to entity A, where both of the custodial entities 1418 must all contribute to allow entity A to recover data or send a message. The custodial entities 1418 provide keys A1, A2, A3, etc. to entity A for entity A to use. When a message (M)—any form of data—is desired by entity A to be backed-up, entity A computes the XOR of the message with the keys, for instance, XOR(M,XOR(A1, XOR(A2, A3))) and then sends the message to be backed-up. To recover the message later, entity A must get that and each of A1, A2, and A3 for recovery.

It is also possible for this technique to be used with more than two custodial entities 1418, where some portion of the custodial entities 1418 must agree in order for the technique to function. For instance, it may be possible to require agreement between 2 of 3 custodial entities 1418, 4 of 5 custodial entities, or any other portion of any other number of custodial entities. This ensures that the technique can function even if some custodial entities 1418 are untrusted or unavailable.

For example, assume that 2 out of 3 custodial entities 1418 are required to perform the technique. Custodial entity 1 sends entity A key A1, while custodial entity 2 sends entity A key A2, and custodial entity 3 sends entity A key A3. If entity A desires to back up a message (M), entity A XORs the message with key A2, for example (XOR(M,A2)), and sends it to custodial entity 1. Entity A also XORs the message with key A3 (XOR(M,A3)) which is sent to custodial entity 2, and entity A XORs the message with key A1 (XOR(M,A1) and sends it to custodial entity 3. Thus, each custodial entity 1418 has the message encoded with a key from a different custodial entity 1418. When the data is desired to be recovered, entity A can do so from any two of the custodial entities 1418, while none of the individual custodial entities 1418 can access the encrypted data. Rather, at least two of the custodial entities 1418 must mutually agree to cooperate in order to access the data.

A similar situation can be used when 3 out of 4 custodial entities 1418 are required to agree, where entity A receives keys A1, A2, A3, and A4. Entity A then computes XOR(M,A2,A3) and sends to custodial entity 1, sends XOR(M,A3,A4) to custodial entity 2, sends XOR(M,A4,A1) to custodial entity 3, and sends XOR(M,A1,A2) to custodial entity 4. If recovery of the original message desired by custodial entity 1 is not available, entity A can retrieve XOR(M,A3,A4) from custodial entity 2, key A3 from custodial entity 3, and key A4 from custodial entity 4, and then XOR them together to decrypt the message.

As shown in these examples and other portions of this disclosure, the system 1400 and related methods can be used to control access to secured or encrypted data through custodial TRNG disks.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart 1500 of a method of controlling access to secure data using a custodial TRNG disk, in accordance with the fourth embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that any process descriptions or blocks in flow charts should be understood as representing modules, segments, portions of code, or steps that include one or more instructions for implementing specific logical functions in the process, and alternate implementations are included within the scope of the present disclosure in which functions may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those reasonably skilled in the art of the present disclosure.

As shown by block 1502, a first quantity of source data is encrypted with a first computer processor of a computerized device using first key data from a first true random number generator (TRNG) disk to generate a first quantity of encrypted data, wherein the first key data comprises at least a block of random bits of the first TRNG disk, wherein the first TRNG disk is stored at a first location by a first entity. A second TRNG disk is provided with second key data comprising at least a block of random bits of the second TRNG disk, wherein the second TRNG disk is stored at a second location by a second entity, the second location being different from the first location (block 1504). The first and second TRNG disks are cloned with a second processor, thereby creating at least one first TRNG disk copy and at least one second TRNG disk copy, wherein each of the first and second TRNG disk copies are identical to the first TRNG disk and the second TRNG disk, respectively, wherein the first and second TRNG disk copies are stored at one or more locations by a custodial entity, wherein the one or more locations are different from the first and second locations (block 1506). The first key data of the first TRNG disk copy and the second key data of the second TRNG copy are encoded together (1508). The encoded first key data and the second key data are transmitted to one or more of the first or second entities, wherein the first quantity of encrypted data is decryptable using the encoded first key data and the second key data (block 1510). Any number of additional steps, functions, processes, or variants thereof may be included in the method, including any disclosed relative to any other figure of this disclosure.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart 1600 of a method of controlling secure data transmission between two entities using a custodial TRNG disk, in accordance with the fourth embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that any process descriptions or blocks in flow charts should be understood as representing modules, segments, portions of code, or steps that include one or more instructions for implementing specific logical functions in the process, and alternate implementations are included within the scope of the present disclosure in which functions may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those reasonably skilled in the art of the present disclosure.

As shown by block 1602, a first quantity of source data is encrypted with a first computer processor of a computerized device using first key data from a first true random number generator (TRNG) disk to generate a first quantity of encrypted data, wherein the first key data comprises at least a block of random bits of the first TRNG disk, wherein the first TRNG disk is stored at a first location by a first entity. A second TRNG disk is provided with second key data comprising at least a block of random bits of the second TRNG disk, wherein the second TRNG disk is stored at a second location by a second entity, the second location being different from the first location (block 1604). The first and second TRNG disks are cloned with a second processor, thereby creating at least one first TRNG disk copy and at least one second TRNG disk copy, wherein each of the first and second TRNG disk copies are identical to the first TRNG disk and the second TRNG disk, respectively, wherein the first and second TRNG disk copies are stored at one or more locations by a custodial entity, wherein the one or more locations are different from the first and second locations (block 1606). The first key data of the first TRNG disk copy and the second key data of the second TRNG disk copy are encoded together (block 1608). The encoded first key data and the second key data are transmitted to the first entity (block 1610). Data is communicated between the first entity and the second entity by: receiving, by the first entity, the encoded first key data and the second key data; encrypting the data, by the first entity, with the encoded first key data and the second key data; and transmitting the encrypted data to the second entity, whereby the encrypted data is decryptable by the second entity using the second key data from the second TRNG disk (block 612).

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure, particularly, any “preferred” embodiments, are merely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) of the disclosure without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and the present disclosure and protected by the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of controlling access to secure data using a custodial TRNG disk, the method comprising: encrypting a first quantity of source data with a first computer processor of a computerized device using first key data from a first true random number generator (TRNG) disk to generate a first quantity of encrypted data, wherein the first key data comprises at least a block of random bits of the first TRNG disk, wherein the first TRNG disk is stored at a first location by a first entity; providing a second TRNG disk with second key data comprising at least a block of random bits of the second TRNG disk, wherein the second TRNG disk is stored at a second location by a second entity, the second location being different from the first location; cloning the first and second TRNG disk with a second processor, thereby creating at least one first TRNG disk copy and at least one second TRNG disk copy, wherein each of the first and second TRNG disk copies are identical to the first TRNG disk and the second TRNG disk, respectively, wherein the first and second TRNG disk copies are stored at one or more locations by a custodial entity, wherein the one or more locations are different from the first and second locations; encoding the first key data of the first TRNG disk copy and the second key data of the second TRNG copy together; and transmitting the encoded first key data and the second key data to one or more of the first or second entities, wherein the first quantity of encrypted data is decryptable using the encoded first key data and the second key data.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising encrypting a second quantity of source data with using the second key data from the second TRNG disk to generate a second quantity of encrypted data, wherein the second quantity of encrypted data is decryptable using the encoded first key data and the second key data.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the custodial entity further comprises at least first and second custodial entities, wherein the first TRNG disk copy is stored at the one or more locations by the first custodial entity and the second TRNG disk copy is stored at the one or more locations by the second custodial entity.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein encoding the first key data of the first TRNG disk copy and the second key data of the second TRNG disk copy together further comprises mutual agreement by the first and second custodial entities.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the custodial entity further comprises three or more custodial entities, wherein the first and second TRNG disk copies are stored at the one or more locations by one of the three or more custodial entities, and wherein encoding the first key data of the first TRNG disk copy and the second key data of the second TRNG disk copy together further comprises mutual agreement by at least a portion of the three or more custodial entities.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating data between the first entity and the second entity, comprising: receiving, by the first entity, the encoded first key data and the second key data; encrypting the data, by the first entity, with the encoded first key data and the second key data; and transmitting the encrypted data to the second entity, whereby the encrypted data is decryptable by the second entity using the second key data from the second TRNG disk.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein encrypting the data with the encoded first key data and the second key data further comprises using an XOR operation.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the encrypted data is transmitted to the second entity directly.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein the encrypted data is transmitted to the second entity through an untrusted network.
 10. A method of controlling secure data transmission between two entities using a custodial TRNG disk, the method comprising: encrypting a first quantity of source data with a first computer processor of a computerized device using first key data from a first true random number generator (TRNG) disk to generate a first quantity of encrypted data, wherein the first key data comprises at least a block of random bits of the first TRNG disk, wherein the first TRNG disk is stored at a first location by a first entity; providing a second TRNG disk with second key data comprising at least a block of random bits of the second TRNG disk, wherein the second TRNG disk is stored at a second location by a second entity, the second location being different from the first location; cloning the first and second TRNG disks with a second processor, thereby creating at least one first TRNG disk copy and at least one second TRNG disk copy, wherein each of the first and second TRNG disk copies are identical to the first TRNG disk and the second TRNG disk, respectively, wherein the first and second TRNG disk copies are stored at one or more locations by a custodial entity, wherein the one or more locations are different from the first and second locations; encoding the first key data of the first TRNG disk copy and the second key data of the second TRNG disk copy together; transmitting the encoded first key data and the second key data to the first entity; and communicating data between the first entity and the second entity by: receiving, by the first entity, the encoded first key data and the second key data; encrypting the data, by the first entity, with the encoded first key data and the second key data; and transmitting the encrypted data to the second entity, whereby the encrypted data is decryptable by the second entity using the second key data from the second TRNG disk.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the custodial entity further comprises at least first and second custodial entities, wherein the first TRNG disk copy is stored at the one or more locations by the first custodial entity and the second TRNG disk copy is stored at the one or more locations by the second custodial entity, and wherein encoding the first key data of the first TRNG disk copy and the second key data of the second TRNG disk copy together further comprises mutual agreement by the first and second custodial entities.
 12. A system of controlling access to secure data using a custodial TRNG disk comprising: a first quantity of source data encrypted, with a first computer processor of a computerized device, using first key data from a first true random number generator (TRNG) disk to generate a first quantity of encrypted data, wherein the first key data comprises at least a block of random bits of the first TRNG disk, wherein the first TRNG disk is stored at a first location by a first entity; a second TRNG disk with second key data comprising at least a block of random bits of the second TRNG disk, wherein the second TRNG disk is stored at a second location by a second entity, the second location being different from the first location; at least one first TRNG disk copy and at least one second TRNG disk copy created by cloning the first and second TRNG disks with a second processor, wherein each of the first and second TRNG disk copies are identical to the first TRNG disk and the second TRNG disk, respectively, wherein the first and second TRNG disk copies are stored at one or more locations by a custodial entity, wherein the one or more locations are different from the first and second locations; encoded first key data and the second key data generated by encoding the first key data of the first TRNG disk copy and the second key data of the second TRNG disk copy together, wherein the encoded first key data and the second key data is transmitted to one or more of the first or second entities, wherein the first quantity of encrypted data is decryptable using the encoded first key data and the second key data.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein a second quantity of source data is encrypted using the second key data from the second TRNG disk to generate a second quantity of encrypted data, wherein the second quantity of encrypted data is decryptable using the encoded first key data and the second key data.
 14. The system of claim 12, wherein the custodial entity further comprises at least first and second custodial entities, wherein the first TRNG disk copy is stored at the one or more locations by the first custodial entity and the second TRNG disk copy is stored at the one or more locations by the second custodial entity.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the first key data of the first TRNG disk copy and the second key data of the second TRNG disk copy are encoded together by mutual agreement by the first and second custodial entities.
 16. The system of claim 12, wherein the custodial entity further comprises three or more custodial entities, wherein the first and second TRNG disk copies are stored at the one or more locations by one of the three or more custodial entities, and wherein the first key data of the first TRNG disk copy and the second key data of the second TRNG disk copy are encoded together by mutual agreement by at least a portion of the three or more custodial entities.
 17. The system of claim 12, wherein data is communicated between the first entity and the second entity, wherein the first entity receives the encoded first key data and the second key data and encrypts the data with the encoded first key data and the second key data, and wherein the encrypted data is transmitted to the second entity, wherein the encrypted data is decryptable by the second entity using the second key data from the second TRNG disk.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the data is encrypted with the encoded first key data and the second key data using an XOR operation.
 19. The system of claim 17, wherein the encrypted data is transmitted to the second entity directly.
 20. The system of claim 17, wherein the encrypted data is transmitted to the second entity through an untrusted network. 